Coverage from the day space shuttle Challenger exploded: Flying A Way Of Life, Death For Smith

Space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986 killing all seven astronauts on board. The second of NASA's oribiters had flown on nine previous missions before the tragedy.

Shuttle pilot Michael J. Smith learned how to fly before he learned how to drive.

Born on a farm in Beaufort, N.C., he grew up within walking distance from the town's municipal airport. He took his first solo flight on his 16th birthday. When the young aviator left home to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, townspeople knew it would be for a future in flight.

A Navy commander, Smith, 40, was one of the astronaut corps' most experienced fliers. He had logged more than 4,300 hours in 28 types of planes. He flew combat missions over Vietnam and was decorated with several medals, including the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star. He also served two tours of duty in the Mediterranean Sea aboard the carrier USS Saratoga.

Smith graduated from the Naval Academy in 1967. In 1968 he earned a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, which boasts of 14 graduates who are present or former astronauts.

Although Smith had been an astronaut since 1980, Tuesday's flight was his first shuttle assignment. He had been on the support crew for several earlier missions, but this one was different: The man who was born to fly was going into space.

He went with the 4,000 residents of Beaufort behind him. His family owns one of the largest farms in town. A neighbor, Bob Burrows, taught Smith how to fly and traveled to Florida to see his pupil fly the shuttle.

This was Mike Smith Week in the town. The mayor sent the astronaut a telegram of good wishes and promised a huge celebration when Smith returned. For weeks, Beaufort ministers and congregations had mentioned Smith in their sermons and prayers. Besides watching the liftoff, area schoolchildren were going to see Smith during space lessons by teacher-turned-astronaut Christa McAuliffe. She was supposed to introduce Smith and and Commander Dick Scobee and explain their jobs to the nation's young.

''He took a town flag with him into space,'' said Elaine Davis, a secretary at the town hall. ''He was going to autograph it while he was up there and then bring it back to us.''

Smith and his wife, Jane, had three children, Scott, 17, Alison, 14, and Erin, 8.

Opal Hill, 60, a court clerk in Beaufort and a family friend, said someone had asked Mrs. Smith recently if she was afraid about her husband's mission. ''She said after two tours in Vietnam she wasn't afraid,'' Hill recalled. ''All Mike ever wanted to do was fly. The town knew that, and we and his family were behind him.''

Angela Stanley, 32, a Beaufort native who grew up with Smith, summed up the feelings of many residents. ''We were so proud of him,'' she said. ''When I heard, I thought, if he had to die, at least he was doing what he wanted to do, what he loved -- flying.''